Improvement in apparatus for transmitting power by the medium of air



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@about @twice HORACE CALL, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 'ASSIGNOR TOHIMSELF AND J. B. RAND,

OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 98,846, (latest January-18, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTIN POWER BY `THE MEDIUM OI AIR.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters-Patent and making part of thesame.

Know all men by these presents:

ThatI, HORACE CALL, of Concord, in the county of Merrimack, and State ofNew Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTransmitting Power; and I do hereby declare the following to be a fulldescription ot' the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings asforming a part of this specification, iuwhich- AFigure llrepresentsaside vertical section of the apparatus for receiving the powertransmitted, which consists of a tank, A, in which is placed, in itsbearings, near the bottom ofthe tank,i a wheel or drum, shown by letterB, and another wheel or drum, in its bear'- ings, near't-he top of thetank, shownby letter C.

r Around these two drums is extended an endless a water-wheel, one ofwhich isl shown by letter E.

An air-supplying pipe-is eilttended into the tank from the top, shown bypletter F, which is to discharge air underthe inverted sides ot' thebuckets, under the bottom of the lower wheel, alittle to the left of thecentre`as shown by letter yGr.` The tank is to be filled with water, andthe wheels .and endless apron are fully 'immersed in water, and as airis discharged under water from the end of the pipe, it has a tendency togain the surface with al force. equivalent to the weight of water in thebuckets which will be displacedby the air, and the endless apron andwheels around which the apron extends aremade to revolve. 'lhe` gearingH, around the cud of the top hwheel, is com-iected with a pinion-cogwheel, shown by letter I, from which motion and power are conveyed tomachinery. C Y The nature of my invention consists in transmitting powerfrom one., point or place to another, by means of forcing `air from thepoint where thepower is generated, through a pipe, to the place where Iwish to make use of the power, or tov several places at the same time,by means of side or branclbpipes.

In carrying out my'il-ventlomil' the power is taken from a water-wheel',I drive with the wheel one or more ai'rTcom'pre'ssers or forcepumps, ofsuiiicient size to consume the power the water-wheel is capable ciyielding, connecting, with the pumps or air-com- `pressers, a pipe,having .suitable valves, which I ,ex-

tend to the place of destination, entering thetank' from the top andextending it to the bott-om, so as to discharge the air under theinverted side of the buckets attached to the segments of the endlessapron, as s'hown 4by lett-er G. v

The pipe is to be of sufficient size to convey the air to betransmitted,andmay be made of lead, iron,

leather, cement, or any other substance or material that will not allowthe air'to escape when passing through it.

The tank may he made of wood or iron, 4or .a cemented pit in the groundunder the, building, and should be made large enough to contain theapparatus which is to receive the power transmitted.

The segments of the endless apron may be made of wood or iron, and areto be securely fastened to each other by iron links ortheireq'uivalents.

bucket,similar in shape to the buckets of a waterwheel.

lhe buckets may be made of wood, or to suit convenience. l

The inside of 'each segment is provided with projecting clutches, whichiit into grooves made in each the wheels, Vand keeping it in its properposition on the wheels when revolving around them. l

discharge the air under the buckets at the bottom of the lower wheel, alittle in front of its= centre, under the inverted side of the buckets.

The wheel or pulley at the top, around which the endless apron passes,is stationed in its bearings'a little forward froma perpendicular linewith the one at the bottom andas it is a natural law for air to riscperpendicular when discharged underwater, and when it meets withobstructions in its ascent to the surface, it will rise as nearperpendicular as the obstruct-ions which it meets with will admit of',consequently the air will enter the first bucket beyond the end ofthepipe where it is discharged; lhe water will immediately drop down o utof the bucket, the lighter duid taking the place of the heavier; and assoon as the first bucket is filled with air, it rises above the tirstbucket, and enters under the edge ot' the second, and continues to filleach bucket with air to the top.

The best chance the air has to rise perpendicular, is totill each bucketin its ascent, the edge of which is a little in front ot' aperpendicular line to the next one below it.

The air whiclrdisplaces the water from the buckets .will press up thesame number of pounds whichthe water would weigh that was displaced bythe air. At the 'same time thebucket-s on the opposite `side of theapron are filled with water, and press 'down on that side, and thus theendless apron and wheels are made to revolve; and as each bucket, in itsrevolution, rises to' a point a little past the centre, at the top ot'the wheel, where the air escapes, it is immediately iilled with wateragain, for the buckets should always be fully immersed in water when inoperation, otherwise the air cannot be fully controlledv to answer theend designed.

I do not claim the whole of the principle speciiicd in this applicationto be new, I having referred -To each segment is fastened a curved orinclined wheel, for the purpose of connecting the apron with The pipeleading'into the tank is so placed as to to and stated this to be one ofthc methods which could 4be used for receiving the air .and applyingt-hcpower transmitted instead of an overshot water- .wheel named in theclaim in Letters Patent, No.

Letters Patent, No. 93,964; and though I have alwaysy intended, since Ifirst conceived the idea, to develop the principle, and secure 'patentsfor the same, yet -I have neglected to do so until within a -year past.rlhe first model I ever vmade to test the correctness of my theory,worked, as I first supposed it would, with entire success.

In my Letters Pat l to.I it will be seen that l discharge the airthrough a pipe into a tank containing a wheel,l made similar in shape toan overshot. water-wheel, at the bottom of the wheel, a little -in frontof the centre, under the inverted side ot' the buckets attached to theperiphery of the wheel; and as air discharged under water, iu all cases,rises perpendicular, it' it has a chance to do so, it will be seen thatthe pressure vup is applied to the buckets of the wheel in such amannei^as not to do near as much work from six to eight and from ten tomeridian, and a little past meridian, where the air escapes, (using thedial of a clock for illustration, which is sometimes done bymillwrights,) as is done by the buckets from eight to ten, ihr in thatpart of the wheel the air has a chance to do the most part of the workin turning the wheel; but in this arrangement, the endless apron,standingr nearly perpendicular, and the pressure up being the same ouall the buckets, at the same time, on the side of the apron where thebuckets are filled with air, and the lweight ot' the water down inthebuckets ou the opposite side being also nearly perpendicular, thereforeI think I receive a greater amount of power by which to driveinaohineryfrom the same amount ot' airl discharged than by the process claimed inmy first patent. Y

I find that air is but slightly compressed in its passage through thepipe, from the starting-point to the point of discharge, there beingnothing to resist its passage but the weight of water in that portion ofthe pipe which enters the tank at the top;' and from the elastic natureof air itself, it supplies a very steady and even motion for` drivingmachinery, which I find to be the casein using the machine I now have inoperation in my mill at Bow; and though some loss is sustained, intheprocess ot' transmission, by-friction and otherwise, yet I am satisiiedit is not large enough rto materially aii'ect the utility or value ofthe process.

'lhe power transmitted may be obtained from water, steam, or any othersource from which motive-power is derived, and may also be forcedthrough the pipes hy hydraulic pressure or circular fan-blowers, insteadof air-compressers or force-punips.

ent, No. 93,964, before referred essie 2 ',lhere are manyvaluableAwater-powers, some less than a milel and some of them one ormore miles from popular cities .in our country, which, from theirlocality,.are now running tov waste. We cannot move our cities to wherethese water-powers are located, but by this process, these powers can betransmit-ted througlione or more main pipes, by one or morevairbecarried to diiTerent workshops, though they may be located at elevatedpoints from Where the power is obtained; and if the tank is placed in aroom containing greasy machinery, filling it with impure air, thisprocess will not only furnish power, but pure air also, for a vol-ume ofair 'will be constantly escaping into the room, having been cleansed andpnriiedby the water through which .it has risen, and'thus vent-ilate thebuilding.

This process must also be of' great value in point of lire-risk iny ourlarge cities,'for instead of running one hundred steam-engines of thecapacity of ten-horse power each, at one hundred diiier'ent workshops,with the expense of engine, fuel, engineer, and fireman for each Vvshop,one steamengine, of a thousand-horse power, placcd where it will notendanger any buildings except the one it shall occupy, will supply' theplace of the one hundred engines, dispensing with their iiremen,engineers, and engines, andthe tire-risk arising from them; and formining-purposes, the air can be -driven into the mine through a leatherhose-pipe, supplying theY miners with power and the best ot'ventilation.

On many streams of water where mills are now built, there is not waterenough secured by the dam at that point to supply the kamount ot' powerneeded, but if one or more damscan be built above or below the mill,other wheels can be driven by them, and the capacity of the stream canbe repeated as often as there is a chance to builda dam across it, andthe power realized from them. can all be concentrated in the mill, andused, like bitching more horsescn to the team or, it' it more desirableto locate a mill on a more elevatedplace, the power that can be receivedfrom a series of dams may all be concentrated there.

Having described my invention,

What I desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination and arrangement 'of an endless apron, D, having straightor curved buckets attached to its segments, and the wheels B and C,around which the endless apron, with the wheels, revolves when placed initsvposition under water, in lan enclosing cistern or tank, A, and apipe, F, entering the tank atthe top,I and descending to thebottom,'viiom which air is discharged to enter into and displace thewater from the buckets, by the pressure upward, and cause the apron andwheels to revolve, the wheels C having wheels and machinery it is todrive, all substantially as'shown and described in the specification.

' HORACE OALL.'[L. s.]

Witnesses J. B. RAND, J. E. LANG.

- compresser-s or force-pumps, and'by branch-pipes can suitable gearingfor connecting it with other gea-r-I

